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The classic comic by Sam Kieth and William Messner-Loebs
is back in this re -mastered edition that collects the first four
issues of The Maxx with all-new colors by Ronda Patison.
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www. i dwpubl i s hi ng. com $21. 9 9
Writen by
Sam Kieth
(story)
and
William Messner-Loebs
(script)
Artwork by
Sam Kieth
Additional Inks by
Jim Sinclair
Colors by
Ronda Patison
Leters by
Mike Heisler
Series Edits by
Scot Dunbier
Cover by
Sam Kieth
Collection Edits by
Justin Eisinger
and
Alonzo Simon
Collection Design by
Robbie Robbins
ISBN: 978-1-61377-959-0 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4
THE MAXX: MAXXIMIZED, VOLUME 1. MAY 2014. FIRST PRINTING. THE MAXX IS TM & 2014 Sam Kieth. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2014 Idea and Design Works, LLC. All rights reserved. IDW Publishing, a division
of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Editorial offices: 5080 Santa Fe Street, San Diego CA 92109. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely
coincidental. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC. IDW Publishing does not read or
accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork. Printed in Korea.
Originally published as THE MAXX: MAXXIMIZED issues #14.
www.IDWPUBLISHING.com
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Jeff Webber, VP of Digital Publishing & Business Development
IDW founded by Ted Adams, Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko, and Robbie Robbins
Ever wondered what they mean when they say CDs are remastered?
Me too. No idea. But I do know what it means for this edition of The Maxx. First of all, we went
back to all the original art, Jim Sinclair and I carefully rescanning each page, and at a much higher
resolutionwhich should particularly pay off when we do the Artists Editions, down the road.
But even in the single issues, I decided recoloring was worth it. Of course, we all agree
Godfather of colorists Steve Oliff is a renowned and legendary master of the form. So, you may
ask, why recolor Maxx at all? Good point. But to be fair to Steve, many Maxx issues were
delivered so late to him that he and his crew were often forced to finish an issue over a single
weekend. It's my fault I didn't correct details, that I didn't take the time to communicate more to
himmonthly comics are often finished under crazy deadlines. Plus, I was drawing The Maxx
comic three days a week and soon started flying down to L.A. to help on the MTV animated series
two days a week. It's all a blur now it's a miracle the sucker came out at all!
So, fast-forward. IDW comes to the rescue, with the help of top-notch colorist Ronda Pattison.
We sat down and went over each page in ways I couldn't seem to muster in the past. Seeing old
pages for me is a mixed bag. Sorta like having lunch with your ex-wife. Only imagine
doing it 25 times and more. Regrets, flaws, all the usual Sam reactions to old work. But
that's my own damage, which shouldn't concern you. All you need to know is: what's
different about this version of The Maxx?
Outside of careful rescanning and recoloring from beefier files, I wont be
messing with the core story. Not that it's perfect, but we all see what happens
when a film gets a "directors cut, or big-budget movies get added computer-
generated FX to make it "better, which usually shows us all it wasn't broken in
the first place. Grant me the indulgence of improved scans and tweaked
colors but otherwise just kick back and enjoy. Trust me, I am sure you will
have more pleasant nostalgic memories of it than I will. I hate everything I
do. Of course, there is a difference A: I am often WRONG and B:
Doesnt matter what I think. It's the fans who decide what works and what
doesn't. If you guys n' gals didn't keep buying it in the first place, it
would have been canceled by issue 2. No cartoon, or any of that other
crap.
But don't listen to me. I typically try to surround myself with much
smarter folks than me. So if I succeed at all, it's in *spite* of myself.
That's what Remastered means. It's improved in spite of the
goofy-assed creator, who's mostly tried to respect the original
material.
It's quirky. Flawed. Psychedelic. And just plain WEIRD.
And, warts and all, it's a picture of who I was at the time.
Only on slightly better paper.
-Sam Kieth
September 11, 2013
Chapter
One
Chapter
One